The Next New Thing

Technology is making a progress every day and to come up with a new media thing it's kind of like playing a scientist :) Improvements are necessary and without them, the world would stand in one place, so thanks to the creative people the world is changing into a better place. I have several idea for new media invention. One of them is eliminating cash. I think we are getting in the era where we already barely see cash. Electronic transfers, money wires, credit cards and checks make up for using cash these days. We see numbers on out bank account statement, but admiteddly how many of us carry cash? When I go out with my friends, they always use credits cards, to pay for dinner, a cab ride, drinks at a bar, grocery shopping etc. Another idea is to advnace banks technology so customer's wouldnt have to go to the bank to deposit checks or money orders. I know some banks are already implementing this new idea, but still not all of them. My company has several bank accounts and every other day the emplyees have to deposit plenty of checks and walk to many different banks, which is very inconvenient. If all the banks had internet based checks deposits, that problem would be solved, and the employees would have more time to work on more important tasks.

P2P File Sharing

File sharing is sharing data via the web, like sending emails, videos, programs, documents and any types of information. File sharing is simply providing access to the stored information in our computer. Some file sharing is illegal, like copies of songs, Microsoft Office programs, decoding files etc. Brian Stelter and Brad Stone in the article “Digital Pirates Winning Battles with Studios” write “People have swapped illegal copies of songs, television shows and movies on the Internet for years. The slow download process, often using a peer-to-peer technology called BitTorrent, required patience and a modicum of sophistication by users. Now, users do not even have to download.” Peer to peer (P2P) file sharing means that people can use software that connects to peer-to-peer network to search for shared files and they can be acquired by many users. Peer to peer users use BitTorrent technology which, as Clive Thompson writes in “The Bit Torrent Effect” article: “quickly upload and download enormous amounts of data, files that are hundreds or thousands of times bigger than a single MP3. More than 20 million people have downloaded the BitTorrent application. If any one of them misses their favorite TV show, no worries. Surely someone has posted it as a "torrent."

Wiki-So Far

I have contributed to Wiki in “New Media Technologies in Business” adding a paragraph about how Amazon expended its business model to let other retailers use the logistics and distribution services. I also added that creative leaders can use new media technology to craft their strategies. Executives should reflect on which pattern reshape their markets. I’m also working on Media and Dating. Soon I will post my research on how New Media can help the single ones find their match and how effective it is. I am planning to research many famous websites and see the percentage of success. New Media is a very important aspect of our life. Pretty much everyone has a computer at home and sometimes for the shy ones especially it is better or easier to find love online.

Privacy and Confidentiality

Privacy online is an issue that we’re constantly dealing with while browsing the web. Every site we visit leaved behind “cookies” in the computer’s memory that create pop ups and may cause privacy loss. It’s hard to distinguish which email is real and which one is “fishing”. The most paradoxical thing is that hacking is legal! Yes, it is. It is absolutely legal for a hacker to break into our computers as long as he doesn’t “touch” anything, means does not make any changes. The law cannot be changed because CIA and FBI is using this right for our own security. If they changed the law, they would have to change this for everyone. The best thing for us to do is to make sure we have a strong password, containing numbers and characters and to change it once in a while. But in order for us to memorize all these passwords for all different email accounts, bank, cable, phone etc. we would probably have to install a hard drive in our brain :) Writing it down on a piece of paper is not a good idea either, in case someone steals it or we’d accidently throw it out. Well, good luck memorizing :)

Advice to Baruch College

My advice for Baruch College would be to start using new media only, and do not send paper brochures about all kinds of academic events. I get them pretty often in the mail and unfortunately they all end up in the garbage. Facebook connects students so that would be a great idea to come up with a Facebook page to enter with Baruch user id only. It would be divided into certain majors so if a student has a problem for example with a math homework, he/she could post it on Math Baruch site and he would get the answer from others quickly and conveniently. There would be no need for paying for tutoring or getting frustrated  A lot of students have failed Precalculus final last semester (about 70%) so it would be very helpful if Baruch would be posting each departmental final after each semester and provide solutions. There is only five tests as of today that haven’t been updated in years! The final is getting harder, not easier  Same for other classes, like psychology or philosophy. I’m sure students would love to have discussions and learn simultaneously online. New media is a great opportunity for the College to expand the communication with students and professors as well. If they implemented my suggestions, I’m sure the entire College experience would be much more enjoyable.